Both a generally cautious attitude about taking things which may impact my nervous system and a family history of heart problems quickly eliminated any thought of using a supplement with ephedra (ma huang) as an ingredient. Having had positive experience with both 5-HTP and St. John's wort, I thought, though, it would be interesting to see if a supplement with an additional recommended ingredient for appetite control, Chormium, would be helpful.

I chose two products of the same brand (Natural Balance). The ingredients of one, HTP.Calm, included both 5-HTP (50 mg) and St. John's wort (300 mg). The other, Serothin, also included 5-HTP (15 mg) and St. John's wort (50 mg) plus 200 mcg of Chromium. In this trial, for two weeks I alternated daily the use of these two products. Both have a recommended serving size of 2 capsules to be taken twice each day. With both, I took only one capsule and only once per day.

Although curiosity is a major part of science, this was clearly not a scientific trial. Chromium was not the only difference in the ingredients of the two supplements, and they also differed in the amount of 5-HTP and St. John's wort. With that caveat, both products appeared to result in a decrease in appetite, and the decrease was most evident on the days when I took the supplement with Chromium. No unpleasant side effects were evident with either supplement. Some positive influence of the 5-HTP and St. John's wort seemed evident with both.

There is, however, sometimes a problem with proprietary blends in that, for a variety of reasons, manufacturers may decide to discontinue them. That in fact occurred with the Serothin product.

I then tried combination of HTP.Calm and a different product from Natural Balance, Ultra Diet Pep, that includes some of the same ingredients as Serothin, including Chromium and L-Tyrosine. No negative side effects have been experienced with the combination.

Natural Balance's HTP.Calm and Ultra Diet Pep are available online using the links below.

This experience is shared only to be a part of the "information pool" for your decision making. People do not have identical reactions to food, medications, or herbal supplements, so I cannot and should not be telling you "what to take". You and your personal health care provider are always in a better position to know what is best for you.

HTP.Calm at iHerb	UltraDietPep at iHerb

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